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Summer calls for something cold, refreshing, and easy—and sometimes the best recipes start with whatever you already have on hand.

Inspiration struck with fresh strawberries and a jug of lemonade. I blended the strawberries into a purée, poured the blend into the lemonade, added a little filtered water, gave it a hard shake, and called it strawberry lemonade.

Then I remembered the little icebox watermelon growing in the garden.

So naturally, that became lemonade too.

The watermelon was harvested from the garden, cut up and seeded, then blended with lemonade before being combined with more lemonade and filtered water. Two fruits, two easy summer drinks, and one very happy refrigerator.

And because I couldn’t leave well enough alone, I even mixed the strawberry and watermelon lemonades together for a little strawberry-watermelon lemonade experiment.

Sometimes the best summer refreshments aren’t complicated. They’re just fresh fruit, good lemonade, and a little Rumble Gumption.

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https://youtube.com/shorts/Esatj322L0g

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🍓 Fresh Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 1 container fresh strawberries, hulled

• Approximately ⅔ gallon prepared lemonade

• Filtered water, to fill

• Ice, for serving

Prepare:

1. Wash and hull the strawberries.

2. Add the strawberries to a blender and blend until completely puréed.

3. Pour the strawberry purée into approximately ⅔ of a gallon of prepared lemonade.

4. Shake or stir well to combine.

5. Fill the remaining space in the gallon container with filtered water.

6. Shake again and refrigerate until cold.

7. Pour over ice and garnish with a fresh strawberry, if desired.

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🍉 Garden Watermelon Lemonade

Ingredients:

• 1 small icebox watermelon

• Milo’s lemonade

• Filtered water

• Ice, for serving

Prepare:

1. Harvest the watermelon and cut it into manageable pieces.

2. Remove the rind and seeds, then chop the watermelon.

3. Set aside approximately 1–1½ cups of watermelon for snacking. Because, obviously. 😉

4. Add the remaining watermelon to a blender.

5. Add enough lemonade to help the watermelon blend easily.

6. Blend until completely liquefied.

7. Pour the watermelon-lemonade mixture into a quart mason jar, filling it approximately ¾ full.

8. Fill the remainder of the jar with filtered water.

9. Shake well.

10. Pour over ice and enjoy cold.

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🥤 Notes from the Kitchen:

• Taste before adding sugar. Both strawberries and watermelon bring their own natural sweetness, and prepared lemonade already contains plenty of sweetness.

• The amount of water is flexible. I diluted both drinks with filtered refrigerator water to make them lighter and more refreshing.

• Blend, don’t overthink it. The goal isn’t a perfectly clarified juice. A little natural fruit pulp is part of the fun.

• Seed removal matters with watermelon. Taking the time to remove the seeds before blending made for a smoother drink.

• Save some fruit for snacking. I set aside about 1–1½ cups of the garden watermelon before blending the rest. Fresh watermelon disappearing from the cutting board is simply part of the process.

• And then I mixed them together. Once both lemonades were made, I couldn’t resist combining some strawberry lemonade with the garden watermelon lemonade to see what happened. The result? A refreshing strawberry-watermelon lemonade that just might deserve its own round two.

• Serve it cold. These are refrigerator drinks, but pouring them over a generous amount of ice, or even blending with ice, takes them straight into summer mode.

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